


Wanting

by MoiraiThanatoio



Series: House of Odin [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Mommy Issues, No one is one dimensional, Odin gives badass gifts, Profanity, Shameless theft of supporting cast, These people are complicated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-03
Updated: 2012-07-03
Packaged: 2017-11-09 02:45:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/450391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoiraiThanatoio/pseuds/MoiraiThanatoio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They all just want this to turn out for the good... But maybe the good of our heroes is not what the people in charge want.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wanting

Ensconced in the front passenger seat of one of Tony’s far too expensive automobiles, Steve finally asked, “I thought Ms. Potts was your, uh, assistant.”

Tony’s expression went tight, his hands white-knuckling on the steering wheel. The traffic of New York City would probably regret Steve having brought up the topic. “Girlfriend, you mean?”

Steve nodded an agreement, knowing Tony would feel the movement in the tense confines of the car.

“Pepper has tolerated a lot from me… My being me, the Iron Man thing, even the Avengers.”

There was a long stretch of silence punctuated only by the outraged horns of the drivers that Tony was rapidly moving between. Steve kept his hands on his thighs, unwilling to reach out and brace himself as punishment for bringing it up.

“What she couldn’t take… was the thought that I might not be completely human.”

Steve had been in the war, had seen that sometimes it was the circumstance that broke relationships. Some gals, they just couldn’t take the separation or the worry but particularly the fear that their guy would come home different. He kept his silence, giving Tony the courtesy of not acknowledging the way he scrubbed briskly at his face and became even more aggressive with his driving. 

“Ms. Potts will be concentrating on the West coast operations of Stark Industries.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve offered.

Tony just shrugged. From then, their drive was silent.

***

When the car pulled into a driveway on Fifth Avenue fronting Central Park, Steve looked around and then shot Tony a wry glance. “You said something about a farm?”

“The Farm, yeah, that’s what they call it.”

Steve stepped out of the car, looking around. He paused, looking again, mentally adjusting for the obvious changes. “This… This is your father’s house.”

Tony simply leaned crossed arms on the top of the car and nodded, back to the mansion, gaze on Steve or the park… It was hard to tell with the sunglasses. “It used to be. Now it’s part of the Institute for Transition and Readjustment. There is actually a farm, that’s where everyone starts. This is for the training, education, job hunting part of things.”

Steve frowned in confusion at Tony’s negligent wave that clearly represented ‘eh, details.’ Following the shorter man to the door, he hesitated when it was opened and he was ushered inside. The house wasn’t what he remembered. 

“I was here once,” Steve admitted. “It didn’t look like this.”

Not brought up to speak ill of the dead, Steve hesitated to complete his thought. It was nicer now, roomier, homier, and more welcoming. 

Tony’s laugh was lacking in any genuine amusement. “I remember. I grew up here.”

Steve couldn’t prevent the flinch. The idea of a kid growing up in the cold mausoleum of prestige that he’d visited… The tiny bedsit he’d shared with his mother as a child was much to be preferred. 

“The Institute started with just the Farm,” Tony clarified, starting down one of the hallways. “But they needed more space and I sure as hell wasn’t going to live here. The guys needed it more.”

Who he meant by ‘the guys’ was quickly answered as they stepped into the area formerly used as a ballroom. Now it was a lounge and library, a large open space for entertainment and relaxing. Several of the occupants looked up, nodding or waving a hand, with one calling out to them. 

“Stark, when you gonna man up for that rematch?”

Tony laughed, this time with real emotion. “Never! You’ll beat my ass.”

They continued out a side door back deeper into the building. Tony paused to let a woman in a wheelchair roll past him. By the time they reached a door marked ‘office’ Steve was confused.

“What is this place?”

Tony stopped in the hallway, turning to look at Steve. There was hesitation in his features, something Steve had never expected to see on Tony Stark. 

“It’s a halfway house for veterans.” Tony paused to let the stricken look drop off Steve’s face. “When they’re having trouble readjusting, there aren’t a lot of options… The VA system is overwhelmed. The Farm houses the administrative offices, the initial assessment, and some housing. Our legal guys and the larger transitional housing are here. Generally they don’t move in to the house here until they’re ready to start working, when they’re dealing well with their issues.”

“Tony,” Steve cleared his throat. “You did this?”

“No.” The denial was sharp. “I gave them the house, yeah, but this was the first establishment created under the Maria Stark Foundation.”

As he opened the door to the office, Tony gestured to a photo and plaque on the wall. It was a woman in the foreground, facing away from the camera, her dark hair pinned up into a simple bun above the collar of a dark suit and the background the simple rows upon rows of Arlington National Cemetery. The caption underneath read “Maria Stark – For the care of all warriors.”

***

Tony sauntered back into his executive office, suit jacket hanging over his shoulder by a crooked finger. The look Donna shot him as he entered promised bloody murder.

“You,” she half-stood from her desk furious. “You couldn’t have warned me not to touch it?”

“Oh, Ms. Noble,” he purred, mood lifted at the memory of Steve’s expression when the lawyer had flat out said ‘Yeah, we’re dropping your retirement package today. Sit down, Captain.’ “Any time you feel like touching…”

The staple remover that bounced off the arc reactor with a muffled clink stopped his commentary. 

“Your box? The one from Monoc Security? It bit me!”

Tony didn’t lose the smirk. “Bit you? Like with teeth?” Even as he mocked, he laid his suit coat over the desk, freeing up his hands. 

The crossed arms and her constant scowl promised a very painful revenge if he didn’t start taking this seriously. “I’ll deal with it later, you said… Which means, and I quote ‘Put it in the corner of my office.’ Your business partner has serious issues if he needs to protect a business contract with electrical shocks!”

He nodded, positive feelings not vanishing even in the face of her strident yelling. “Where is it?”

She pointed, thin lipped and silent. There was an unassuming metal case set at the side of her desk. It was silver with the rubbed surface common to all high-end non-leather briefcases. But it was shaped oddly. He wanted to describe it as a standard courier case. Something about the size and lines of it flickered in the edges of his perception. 

“Jarvis?” Tony asked.

“At Donna’s request, sir,” and Tony raised an eyebrow at his assistant. Jarvis got first name rights and he didn’t? She just pursed her lips, expression making it clear that her terms stood. “I scanned the vicinity for any particular electromagnetic signatures. There are no unexpected energy sources in the building, nor are any chemical or biological markers present.”

“So if I touch it, it’s not going to explode?”

“Objects have a worrying tendency to explode without provocation on exposure to your person, sir.”

“Everyone on the staff,” Tony muttered to himself, crouching down. “They all sass me.”

He contemplated the case for a time and could hear Donna’s indrawn breath when he reached out. It gave him more information… particularly that if she was worried about what it would do to him – that had been a hell of a shock she had received. He made a mental reminder to set up a hazard pay bonus. His hand connected with the surface and it started to warm… Progressing rapidly from warm to hot.

As he yanked back, standing and stepping away, the case evaporated. It literally melted away, from the top down, vanishing as it did. 

“Dramatic bugger, that Vadderung,” Donna concluded. “Having to hire a bloody ‘magic’ security consultant.”

Tony stared, absently responding. “No choice… can’t have the place demolished by things outside the realm of my special brand of influence.”

“Then you clearly don’t remember what Clarke had to say about magic.”

He knelt this time, crouching closely to the object sitting on his office carpet where the case had been. It was the Iron Man helmet, but in no functional battle-ready form. It was, literally, a work of art. The red accented gold-titanium alloy had been replace with an intricate inlay of gemstones… possibly garnet or ruby his ‘appease the girlfriend’ hindbrain supplied. The face mask was missing entirely and the gold edges around the opening were inscribed with writing so small he couldn’t read it even as close as he currently was to the object. 

This alone would have been surprising enough, but Tony had received some odd gifts in his time. The contract he was expecting was completely absent. Instead there was a single piece of something far too thick to be paper. 

Ignoring the warning noise Donna made, Tony reached out and picked up the helmet. His engineer’s eye told him it would fit on his head. Not tempted, at the moment, to find out, he tucked it under his arm like an incredibly ornate football and picked up the paper. 

“Well,” Donna demanded. “What’s it say then?”

Tony flipped it around so she could see the sharp runic markings and shrugged, “I can’t read it.”

***

“Troubles weigh heavily on you, friend.”

Steve looked up at Thor’s mild comment, still kneeling in front of the most recent victim to his workout strength. He was breathing heavily. It was emotional rather than due to his workout. The knowledge he’d gained today… of his own circumstances, of the laws in place to protect soldiers, of the things that had been hidden from him… these were far more affecting than a simple routine with a heavy bag. 

Thor was looking at him with a quiet introspection on his usually mobile face. “Such burdens could be shared among warriors, should you so choose.”

Steve wasn’t ready to talk about his own problems. But there was a question that had been burning like an ember in the back of his mind since the early afternoon. “Tell me about Loki,” he asked. “What was he like before?”

Nodding, Thor crossed his legs and dropped easily into a seat next to Steve on the private gym floor. “You worry for my nephew.”

“I worry about what this could mean for all of us. After what he did, to be roaming around free again… We trusted you when you took him back to Asgard.”

Thor reached out, his hand lying heavily on Steve’s shoulder. “Your trust was not misplaced, Captain. Loki was sequestered with our best mind healers for a hundred of your years to remove the Chitauri taint from him. My father, Odin, led Asgard’s finest warriors into the heart of their territory to ensure the threat would not rise again.”

“A hundred years?” Steve questioned, the doubt heavy in his voice.

“Our healers can seal their halls such that time runs sideways… The wounds of warriors can run deep, but our people cannot always be without their protectors.”

“And the Chitauri?”

Thor sighed. “To hold a Prince of Asgard through such torture and mind control… It is a grievous crime. In truth, Odin’s warriors did not have much to clear from that realm. The weapon that the Man of Iron flew into their bosom was most deadly.”

“Thor,” Steve began, staring at the other man with deep concern, “can you truly tell me that Loki is no longer a threat?”

Thor’s sudden laughter blossomed in the room, echoing and lifting the somber tone. “Friend, his ways of mischief will never waver… But the darkness has been burnt clean of my shield brother’s soul. We shall see together that he has been brought to a higher calling, for there is none so precious in all the Nine Realms as a child.”

***

“I would not consider the Stark situation under control.”

Fury turned his glare to the floor in front of him, the shadowy screens reflecting half-features and hints of light. “With all due respect, the situation is evolving but contained.”

“Can we confirm these claims?” The question, this time from the female member.

“We’re working on it,” Fury acknowledged. “But Howard and Maria were cremated after the accident. We’re attempting to locate the remains without drawing public attention.”

“Surely you have a DNA sample available to provide a simple answer?”

Fury ground his teeth, trying to maintain his temper. He was concentrating on the funding, the necessity, of keeping these harpies off Shield’s back. “Our analysis was inconclusive. The sample may have been contaminated.”

“Contain the situation, Colonel,” the Chairman stated flatly. “Or we’ll take another tactic.”

“Another tactic?” Fury questioned, on guard. “After initial contact with the subject, Stark consolidated his holdings to remove any possibility that his power base could be removed. There is nothing we can do to remove him while he holds 65% of his company.”

The shadowy figure’s smirk was clear. “Every power base has a weak point. Contain Stark, or we’ll try him in the court of public opinion.”


End file.
